Ben Carson Compares Slaves to Immigrants

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12 Years an Immigrant

March 6, 2017 – Newly confirmed Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson, used his first official address to department staff to share another of his unique historical insights. After famously postulating that the pyramids of ancient Egypt were actually used to store grain, the former world-renowned neurosurgeon asserted that the enslaved peoples brought to this country from the continent of Africa were “immigrants” in the tradition of Europeans who came to America in search of a better life.

“That’s what America is about. A land of dreams and opportunity. There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. They too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great grandsons, great granddaughters might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.”

The town hall event was broadcast live to the department’s regional offices and the response of the HUD staff who were present for their new chief executive’s comments was generally positive. A HUD official anonymously cited in a Washington Post story on the event pushed back against the immediate online outcry over the statement. The official dismissed outright the suggestion that Carson was comparing the centuries-long plight of enslaved Africans to that of immigrants who came to this country of their own free will.

Many posters on social media, who savaged the former GOP presidential contender on Twitter, did not share this view:

Ben Carson Compares Slaves to Immigrants

Perhaps the most high profile poster was “Django Unchained” and “Snakes on a Plane” star, Samuel L. Jackson who was unambiguous in his response to Carson’s remarks:

OK!! Ben Carson….I can’t! Immigrants ? In the bottom of SLAVE SHIPS??!! MUTHAFUKKA PLEASE!!!#dickheadedtom

— Samuel L. Jackson (@SamuelLJackson) March 6, 2017

Carson, a medical doctor, made his comments after newly named Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos described historically black colleges as among the pioneers of the “school choice” movement forgetting that HBCU’s were established in direct response to explicit legal prohibitions against admitting black students by virtually all of the nation’s institutions of higher learning.

Despite the public outcry, many HUD staffers who witnessed Carson’s speech came away with a favorable impression. One person present at the event but who declined to be named offered:

“HUD has many employees who are African American and at the end of his remarks they stood up and applauded for the secretary. Many went to take pictures of him.”